I woke this morning at 5 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. While I was reading an article that I hoped would lull me back into oblivion for my last hour of sleep, I heard an owl hooting outside. It was dawn, but still dark. It was so pleasant listening, that I decided to put the article aside, close my eyes, and listen. It worked like a charm and before I knew it, my alarm was going off.
Laurie and I are going crazy riding in circles and circles around NoVa, and our VA Capital Trail ride keeps getting postponed by weather. So we decided to do one of many rides I got from Potomac Pedelars for signing up for the Back Yard Centure (their Covid version of the Back Roads Century where we paid for a bunch of routes to do in our own time.)
This one was called "Through Church Parking" and just this 51-mile ride alone made purchasing all the cue sheets worth it. We started out in Brentsville at the courthouse. There was someone in a strange fancy dress doing a photo shoot in the distance.
The courthouse was pretty. I wanted to pop in after the ride and am only just realizing I forgot!
A bit of history. Apparently, Brentsville didn't do very well during the Civil War - lots of destruction.
As we were leaving, there was a scuffle in the tree over our head. I assumed squirrels, but Laurie noticed a hawk attacking the squirrel! And even after that, the hawk didn't fly away with us there making a lot of noise. He posed and let me take this pic. I think it was a Cooper's hawk. He was small.
After that little show by live animals, there was a lot of dead wildlife at the beginning of this ride. A couple of deer, an opossum, a chipmunk, a couple of snakes, and a raccoon were all obstacles on the shoulder. Does this have something to do with fall? Everything's out taking chances looking for food before winter? Don't know, but it was a relief to see these cute kitties lined up in someone's yard.
The fields were golden with their crops harvested and their grasses turning brown.
I took this pic of a huge Mcmansion on an old farm property. The original outbuildings were still there, standing at odds with the brick home with pillars and suburban looking flower pots. Pretty field though.
Hello Mr. Cow.
This impressive guy was sitting on the hilltop looking relaxed until we stopped. Then he was up guarding the herd (?).
And then this beautiful horse in the barn. Laurie wanted to call him Mr. Ed.
At mile 20 we stopped at Neavil's Mill for a snack. It was interesting to see in this countryside the evidence of old villages. The mill appeared to be one and later we saw the remnants of a whistle stop town. Parts of old walls, houses close together at an intersection, maybe a dilapidated general store, a mill or a train depot all indicate a previously bustling place.
We rested our bikes here, which turned out to be a poor choice. It was wet, muggy, and buggy. Felt like we were standing in a bog.
And then the sun finally started poking through and burning off some of the wet. It was a robin's egg blue breaking through.
We stopped again at mile 35 for snack #2. We'd made our one wrong turn by now, so the 51-mile ride would be 55. Woops. Except, not woops. I just remembered it was an error in the cue sheet. (For the record, the error was at step 18 where it says continue straight onto Green Road. There was a slight left onto Green that I assumed was the left onto Beach, so then I missed the left onto Beach). Maybe it was my fault?
The hay had been harvested and rolled. The fields were beautiful.
So, about the owls. After being lulled back to sleep by an owl this morning (which is unusual. I haven't heard an owl near our house in more than a year), one of our early turns on the ride was Owl's Nest Road. Then later, we passed Owl's Ridge Farm. And here, I was compelled to stop to take a picture: Owl Run Nursery. What's up with the owls? I googled it, but couldn't find anything online associated with owls in Nokesville.
Pretty cows.
When we finished, we stopped at the Badwolf Brewery for a beer and some crab potato chips. Yum.
I thought this ride was awesome. Lots of long stretches of open road that often felt like we were always going down or had the wind behind us. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if it was the BadOwl Brewery. :)
Distance: 56
Speed: 14.7
No comments:
Post a Comment